Pennant became a key piece in Pulis’s jigsaw as Stoke were establishing themselves back in the top flight – and reaching the FA Cup final for the first time in the club’s history, via an exhilarating 5-0 semi-final Wembley win over Bolton.

The backdrop to this was a changing room camaraderie Pennant reckoned was about the best he ever experienced… and mind-numbing, repetitious training on tactics and team shape.

“Going to Stoke was a bit of a culture shock. I was used to the Premier League and the English style of football. It’s tough and physical,” he writes in his new autobiography, Mental: Bad Behaviour, Ugly Truths and the Beautiful Game.

“But being at Stoke was different again. I went from being in Spain with time on the ball, being able to express myself and not have to defend too much to then being a groundhog under Pulis. It was like being treated like a dog.”

But first the good. Pennant rates that win over Bolton as a highlight right up next to his man-of-the-match turn in the 2007 Champions League final with Liverpool.

Jermaine Pennant celebrates with scorer Matthew Etherington as Stoke City sail to a 5-0 win over Bolton in the 2011 FA Cup semi-final at Wembley. (Image: Steve Bould)

It wasn’t capped by a trophy – Pennant still rues chances not taken by himself and Kenwyne Jones – but he refuses to gloss over what it meant to the players, club and city.

He said: “The semi-final was a massive high, the buzz around Stoke, the way we were preparing for it, the way we won, the fans’ reaction and getting into the final for the first time ever – all of this accounted to a brilliant moment in my career.

“It was so strange because I cried after the FA Cup final but not Champions League. Maybe it’s because of the tradition or being at Wembley but it felt different being at the home of English football.

“People talk about the FA Cup final being special and the world’s greatest cup competition and – as a player, even as a modern day player – I can promise you it really is special. It helped put Stoke on the map that season. We made history that day and all of that made it a big, emotional occasion.”

Jermaine Pennant in tears at full time at the FA Cup final after Stoke lose to Manchester City. (Image: Alex Severn)

Instructions for Jermaine Pennant from Tony Pulis, who signed the winger from Real Zaragoza. (Image: Steve Bould)

It couldn’t, however, last forever.

Pulis later suggested he knew Pennant was probably ‘a rascal he could get the best out of for one or two windows’ rather than a long-term answer.

Pennant was likely to find a frustration with one thing or another and, towards the end of his second season, he found it at Clayton Wood.

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“Training started to get so boring,” he said. “And none of them enjoyed it. None of them.

“We just got on with it. It was the same for Ryan Shawcross, Glenn Whelan, everybody. They all hated it. They’re seen as disciples of Pulis, his players, but they all hated it.”

He added: “One day it reached a point when another ball went sailing over my head and I couldn’t help it. I turned around and said, ‘**** it! Why do we have to keep hitting it long?’ I finished by saying, ‘Why am I even here?’

“I kept training but I let my level drop because I was bored and then he would complaint that I wasn’t making a proper effort.

“I flipped again and I told him, ‘We aren’t even training, we’re not even touching a ball. You’re telling us to run to number one or if the ball goes to number two…’”

Jermaine Pennant is pulled through his paces in training by Tony Pulis, with Dave Kemp watching on. (Image: Neil Hulse)

Pennant claimed that after another row he was dumped down the pecking order behind Ryan Shotton – “He was playing well but he’s a 6ft 3in centre-back!” – and it came to a head when Pulis pulled the plug on a loan move to Leeds at the 11 hour.

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Pennant was left out of a game at Everton – then as teammates and coaches came in the changing room following a defeat, he was cheering. He maintains he was celebrating a successful bet.

“The next day was an absolute car crash for me,” he said – and after he was caught sneaking back to the team hotel before another away match – ‘I’d stayed the night at my home 20 minutes away…’ – he was told to ‘**** right off.’

So he did – spending half-a-season on loan at Wolves and half-a-season in the doldrums training with the youth team until he found out, just as he arrived at a golf course, that Pulis had left.

“That,” he said, “was the best round of golf I’ve ever had in my life.”